The present invention relates to a diaper that includes a waist belt and an absorbent unit having a front part, a rear part and an intermediate crotch part, and fastener devices provided in the front and the rear end of the absorbent unit, said fastening devices being fastenable to the belt.
Such diapers are primarily intended for use as adult diapers or incontinence guards and shall be capable of being applied to a diaper user with said user in a recumbent position. In applications such as these, it is difficult to position the diaper correctly, and it may therefore be necessary to move a bed-lying user several times before the diaper is positioned correctly. In the case of modern diapers, it is important to apply the diapers correctly in order to be able to fully utilize their absorption and sealing properties. It is also important that the fastener devices are constructed to enable the diaper to be held in position even when the absorbent body is saturated or almost saturated and therewith much heavier than when dry.
The object of the present invention is to solve these problems.
This object is achieved in accordance with the invention with a diaper of the aforedescribed kind which is characterized in that the front and rear end of the absorbent unit each include a centre fastener device which is positioned on the longitudinal symmetry axis of the unit, and two lateral fastener devices which are positioned on respective sides of said axis. The centre fastener device enables the diaper to be applied in the correct position very easily at the first attempt, since the spine and navel provide natural reference points when applying the diaper. When the centre fastening devices are applied first when putting on the diaper, the lateral fastener devices can be fastened correctly independently of one another, therewith enabling a diaper to be put onto a user lying on one side, without risk of needing to make any subsequent adjustment. Furthermore, the central suspension of the diaper reduces the risk of the absorbent unit of an applied diaper being moved out of position by externally acting forces when the diaper is in use. The central suspension also ensures that the longitudinally extending elastic elements normally found in diapers will be stretched or tensioned to mutually the same extent when applying the diaper. It also ensures that the central parts of the diaper will not sag in use, due to the greater weight of the diaper after having absorbed liquid.
In one preferred embodiment of the invention, the fastener devices of the absorbent unit have the form of hooks and the waist belt is provided on its outer surface with a loop-material into which the hooks on the fastener devices can engage. The loop-material may conveniently consist of a nonwoven fabric, or a velour fabric. Other knitted or woven textile materials are also suitable for use as said loop material. The loop material will preferably cover the whole of the outer surface of the belt. The absorbent unit includes an absorbent body enclosed between an outer, liquid-impermeable casing sheet and an inner, liquid-permeable casing sheet, and longitudinally extending side flaps which extend on respective sides of the longitudinal symmetry axis from the side-edge parts of the unit and in over the inner casing sheet, and which include longitudinally extending elastic elements along their edges that face towards said axis.